Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 8 (Chinese and Japanese).djvu/41

Rh strongly approved of its teachings, and was content to pass over its magic. It is the text of the official phrases used by diviners, who, it must be remembered, were high officials in the early governments of China. The rare passages in this classic which refer to a philosophic conception of government are submerged by the constant allusions to good and ill luck and to divination.

There are also three other early books which are filled with accounts of extraordinary happenings. The Shan Hai King ("Mountain and Sea Classic") would appear from its name to have been devoted to geography, as the Shui King ("Water Classic") might have been expected to treat of water-ways. In reality both these treatises, which are considered classical, contain accounts of all sorts of strange things in the animal and aquatic worlds. In its present form the Shan Hai King was not compiled until after the beginning of the Christian era, but the tales contained therein are popular legends which had their origin as far back at least as the Chow dynasty. The "Critical Catalogue" of the Emperor Ch'ien Lung's library, or Ssǔ K'u Ch'üan Shu, denies that the tenets of this classic are those of Lao Tzǔ, but Taoist authors have usually claimed it as belonging to their sect. The third classic is the Yin Fu King ("Mysterious Tally"), the authorship of which has been credited in Taoist circles to the mythical Emperor, Huang Ti. This book is largely devoted to ethical discussions in which an attempt is made to fit the one side of the tally which covers the visible phenomena around us with the other half which relates to the unseen world. It discusses the hidden harmony which exists in all animate things where only discord appears on the surface, and reconciles the apparent disagreements between the seen and the unseen. Special mention is made of this classic in order to point out the fact that in addition to Lao Tzǔ there were other accredited Taoists who gave their attention to ethics at the same time as there was a constant succession of those who devoted themselves to magical and miraculous arts.